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Woodson Bridge victim of state budget cuts
70 state parks have been targeted for closure. They are:
Anderson Marsh SHP
Annadel SP
Antelope Valley Indian Museum
Austin Creek SRA
Bale Grist Mill SHP
Benbow Lake SRA
Benicia Capitol SHP
Benicia SRA
Bidwell Mansion SHP
Bothe-Napa Valley SP
Brannan Island SRA
California Mining & Mineral Museum
Candlestick Point SRA
Castle Crags SP
Castle Rock SP
China Camp SP
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
Fort Humboldt SHP
Fort Tejon SHP
Garrapata SP
George J. Hatfield SRA
Governor's Mansion SHP
Gray Whale Cove SB
Greenwood SB
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP
Hendy Woods SP
Henry W. Coe SP
Jack London SHP
Jug Handle SNR
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP
Limekiln SP
Los Encinos SHP
Malakoff Diggins SHP
Manchester SP
McConnell SRA
McGrath SB
Mono Lake Tufa SNR
Morro Strand SB
Moss Landing SB
Olompali SHP
Palomar Mountain SP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Picacho SRA
Pio Pico SHP
Plumas-Eureka SP
Point Cabrillo Light Station
Portola Redwoods SP
Providence Mountains SRA
Railtown 1897 SHP
Russian Gulch SP
Saddleback Butte SP
Salton Sea SRA
Samuel P. Taylor SP
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP
Santa Cruz Mission SHP
Santa Susana Pass SHP
Shasta SHP
South Yuba River SP
Standish-Hickey SRA
Sugarloaf Ridge SP
Tomales Bay SP
Tule Elk SNR
Turlock Lake SRA
Twin Lakes SB
Weaverville Joss House SHP
Westport-Union Landing SB
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA
Zmudowski SB
The Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area is one of 70 state parks that will be closed as part of a two-year $33 million budget cutback, the California Department of Parks and Recreation announced Friday.
The William B. Ide Adobe State Historical Park north of Red Bluff is also on the list, as is Bidwell Mansion State Historical Park in Chico.
“We regret closing any park,” Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks, said in a statement, “but with the proposed budget reductions over the next two years, we can no longer afford to operate all parks within the system.”
The cuts include $11 million in the 2011-12 fiscal year, and $22 million in the following year.
“These cuts are unfortunate, but the state’s current budget crisis demands that tough decisions be made,” said Resources Secretary John Laird. “Hopefully, Republicans in the legislature will agree to allow California voters to decide whether we extend currently existing taxes or make deeper cuts to our parks.”
The announcement does not indicate when the official closure will take place, how the parks will be maintained, whether they will be barricaded somehow – and at what cost – or how many staff members will be losing their jobs.
Calls to the department were not immediately returned.
The department reported the closures only impact about 8 percent of park visitors and just 6 percent of park revenue statewide, but the impact to the local economies may mean a lot more.
With the parks closed, and access to the river limited, bait and tackle shops, gas stations, markets and other shops could see fewer outside visitors come through Corning.
Allowing local jurisdictions to take over the parks is part of a plan introduced by Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, and it has been implemented in some areas.
“With this announcement, we can begin to seek additional partnership agreements to keep open as many parks as possible,” added Coleman. “We already have 32 operating agreements with our partners – cities, counties and nonprofits – to operate state parks, and will be working statewide to expand that successful template.”
The cuts leave 208 state parks open.
